Method and means for trapping paint over-spray



March 3, 1959 s. FORSHEE 2,875,680

Filed Feb. 21. 1956 METHOD AND MEANS FOR TRAPPING PAINT OVER-SPRAY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 SHEILA FORSHEE ATTORNEY INVENTOR.

March 3, 1959 s. FORSHEE 2,875,630

METHOD AND MEANS FOR TRAPPING PAINT OVER-SPRAY Filed Feb. 21. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E *f/ 2o INVENTOR SHEILA FORSHEE ATTORNEY 2,875,680 Patented Mar. 3, 1959 METHOD AND MEANS FOR TRAPPING PAINT OVER-SPRAY Sheila Forshee, Detroit, Mich. Application February 21, 1956, Serial No. 566,934 4 Claims. (Cl. 98-115) This invention relates to the art of paint spraying and has particular reference to a method and means for trapping and disposing of the over spray, and this application may be considered a continuation in part of my copending application, Serial No. 459,040 filed September 29, 1954, now Patent No. 2,841,073.

In my said co-pending application Serial No. 459,040, I disclosed a certain form of apparatus for practicing my invention. I now desire to disclose a modified form of apparatus, with which my novel method or process may be practiced, and intend also to particularly describe and claim in this application the novel method or process, which is partially disclosed in the co-pending application.

It is one of the objects of this invention to generally improve the art of paint spraying, and to provide a method or process, which is very economical to practice, because it eliminates much of the apparatus previously needed in such operations. In my co-pending application Serial No. 459,040, I pointed out some of the advantages of my invention, over the wet bath or water curtain types of spray booths, previously employed. The apparatus which I now disclose is similar in some respects, to that previously disclosed, but I have simplified and modified it, so that the apparatus herein disclosed may be used with greater facility in practicing the novel method.

The object therefore of this invention is to disclose a dry method, as opposed to a wet method, of disposing of the excess paint in a spray booth.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for practicing the method.

A further object of the invention is to provide a paint spray booth, which has a comparatively thin wall of highly absorbent, readily disposable material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paint spray booth which has a substantially vertical, progres: sively moveable, thin wall of highly absorbent, normally dry, non-woven, fabric material, positioned to absorb and trap all excess spray paint.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paint spray booth having a thin wall of highly absorbent material of the character indicated, with means for main taining a fresh supply of such material, and means for facilitating the easy disposal of used portions of such material.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, reference being made from time to time to the accompanying drawings forming part of the within disclosure in which drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a paint spray booth embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the booth illustrated in Fig. l, with parts broken away to show the relation of other parts.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the device illustrated in Fig. 1 with parts broken away and parts in -sectin.

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, it will be understood that in the embodiment herein disclosed, the reference character 7 indicates, in general, the paint spray booth, which. is preferably made in three sections, designated by the reference characters 8, 9 and 10. The section 8 consists of a pair of wings 11 and 12 and a canopy 13. The section 8 serves as a protective stall for the operator 14, who is using a paint spray gun 15, to paint an object 16.

The sections 8, 9 and 10 are all preferably made of light sheet metal material and are fabricated and secured together by any suitable means.

The section 9 has a top 17 and side walls 18 and 19, which serve as a housing for and means to support, the upper roll 20, on which is stored the material, from which the fabric curtain 21 is formed. The curtain 21 extends downwardly from the roll 20, to form the front wall of the section 9. The curtain 21 passes over an idler roll 22, and on to a collector roll 23, which is constructed and driven as hereinafter described. The section 9 is provided with hinged panels 24 and 25, so that access may be had to the rolls 20 and 23, for

loading, un-loading and replacing the curtain material 21.

The curtain wall 21, is preferably backed up with an welded to angle members 27 and 28 (Fig. 3), which serve to re-inforce and support the walls of the section 9. The screen 26 is intended to re-inforce the material of the curtain 21, so that the curtain 21 may withstand the blast from the spray gun 15, and the current of air, which passes through the curtain 21, and may resist-the pressure of any object which might be forced against it.

The roll 20 is carried on an axle 29, the ends of which ride in channel members 30, secured to the inside of the walls 18 and 19. The roll 22 is similarly supported. The rolls 20 and 22 are readily installed, by causing the ends of their axles to be received in the channels 30.

hub 31 is splined on the shaft 35, so that it may slide to the left, against .the pressure of the spring 37, and

return whereby the member 23A may bemoved out of, and into engagement with the hub 32, for installing and removing the collector roll. The hub 31 is provided with keys 38, which engage slots 39, formed in the ends of the tubular member 23A, so that the latter may be rotated by the drive shaft 35. The hub 32 and end plate 34 rotate on a stub shaft 40, which is welded or otherwise secured, as at 41, to a backing plate 42, which is secured to the inner face of the wall 19. A roller bearing 43 is preferably interposed between the stub shaft 40 and the hub 32. With this construction and arrangement it is easy to discard'the accumulated curtain material 21A, after it has been used and collected on the collector roll 23 by severing the curtain just above the roll 23 and removing the roll 23.

The sprocket 36 which rotates the shaft 35, is driven by a chain 44, which in turn is driven by a smaller sprocket 45, which is driven by an electric motor 46, through a suitable gear reduction, not shown. The drive motor 46 is preferably manually controlled, by means of a switch within easy reach of the operator 14, so that portions of the curtain material 21 may be intermittently advanced from the roll 20 to the collector roll 23.

The sprockets 36 and. 45 and thechain 44, are all covered by means of a cover..47, which is secured by any suitable means, to the outside of the wall 18.

The motor 46 andi'ts .gear reduction are housed in the bottom of the section 10. The interior of the section 10, communicates at the top with a stack 48, in which ist-mounted an exhaust fan, not shown, which is driven by'means: ofv an electric motor 49. The exhaust fan draws a-continuous stream of fresh airthrough the three sections 8, 9 and 10, and through the fabric curtain 2'1, and out the stack 48, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3:

I will now describe in detail the materialof which the curtain 21 is made. The'curtain 21. preferably consists of azpre-determined length, of one hundred percent, nonwoven, cotton fibres, having a high factor of absorbency, which fibers are-calendered, or pressed, to a layer thickness of approximately one sixty-fourth of an inch, to provide a normally dry, smooth surface, without nap; As? currently definedby the industry, non-woven fabrics aremats of fibers held together with a bonding material, or by the action of. thermo-plastic and thermosetting resins, mixed in with the fibers. No yarns or conventional weaving equipment is used. Non-woven, or bonded fiber fabrics, consist of fibers adhesively bonded to one another. The fibers are bonded together with heat, pressure and/ or vacuum-subjected to various forms of applications, to insure uniform dispersion of' thebonding agents. Bonded fiber fabrics are usually produced on conventional carding equipment as'the basis for the web.. Thefibers'in the carded Web lienearly parallel, giving greater strength in the Warp Wise direction. The fabric may also be produced on a garnetting machine. Bonding is done by a chemo-thermic process, under extremely-high heat, pressure and/or vacuum.

The non-woven clothreferred toin this application is a blend offibers, which will give maximum absorbency and is treatedso that it will have a smooth surface without nap,.with resins, which will-add a maximum degree of bonding and tensile strength, and yet will ofier little resistance to thepassage of'air therethrough. The fabric material is preferably flame-proofed, with any suitable chemical composition. Thematerial so described, has a comparatively-high tensile'strength, offers little, if any, resistance to the passage of air there-through, and becauserof itshigh factor of absorbency, will catch, hold and absorb, any and all excess paint spray, which may contact itduringa paint spray operation. This material when loaded with excess paint spray, is readily disposable. The'usedsections are continuously rolled onto the collector roll 23, which when filled is removed and dis posed of.

It is believed thatnthe operation of the device will be tion, all of which are within the contemplation of the appended claims. So far as I am aware, no one has heretofore practiced, a dry method, of trapping and disposing of excess paint spray, by the utilization of such a material as hereinabove disclosed. One of the important features of this invention resides in the use of the material in the manner hereinabove indicated.

Having described my invention, what. I claim anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of trapping and disposing of paint overspray, which consists of providing a booth-like structure havingatleast one moveable wall formed of. a thin.curtain of normally dry, highly absorbent, non-woven, cotton fabric material of sufii'cient tensil'estrength to permit it to be pulled from a rotating support, positioning an object to be paint sprayed in close proximity to said curtain, passing a current of air about said object and through: and around said curtainand' while said air-is in motion; directing a paint spray toward said object, and thencausing' said curtain to be removed from its'said' original wall position.

2. An' over; spray curtain for a paint spray booth,

" comprising an approximately one sixty-fourth of an inch inthickness, layer of normally dry, non-woven, cotton fabric material, pressed to a smooth and napless'finish, and treated. toresist fire, and having sufiicient' tensile strength towpermit it to be pulled from location to location.

3. A.curtain as defined inclaim 2, including rotating. means'. for suspending said curtain in said booth and means for pulling sections of said-curtain into and out ofia predetermined: position with respectto said booth;

4. A paint spray booth having a moveable wall; consisting of a continuous layer of normally dry, highly absorbenhfiame proofed,.non woven, cotton fabric materiaLapproximately one sixty-fourth of aninch in thickness', and pressed toa napless, smooth finish and having suflicient tensile. strength. to support large paint laden sections. thereof, means for adjustably supporting saidlayer, means for directinga current of air through: and

aroundsaid wall, means for moving said layer, and means for collecting portions of'said layer, so moved.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS' 1,368,426 Foote Feb. 15, 1921 1,982,639 Christotferson Dec. 4, 1934= 2,106,187 Naugler Jan. 25, 1938 2,119,978- Wolthuis June'7,.1938 2,730,033 Mellor Jan. 10, 1956. 2,752,003 Hersey June 26,1956 2,763,139 Call'an Sept. 18, 195.6:

FOREIGN PATENTS' 206,257 Switzerland July 31, 1939. 828,032 Germany Jan. 14', 1952 

